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Friday, 22 August 2014

England women won the rain truncated 1st ODI by 42 runs by the Duckworth/Lewis method against India women at the North Marine Road Ground in Scarborough. With weather having the final say, the 110-run opening stand between Charlotte Edwards and Heather Knight proved crucial as England took a 1-0 lead in the bilateral series of the ICC Women's Championship.

Having restricted India to 193 in 47 overs, England were set a revised target of 184 in 42 overs after rain interrupted the game for the second time. Edwards and Knight got England off to a flying start. It was only in the 21st over that Ekta Bisht ended the flourishing partnership. 17 runs later Rajeshwari Gayakwad sent back Knight to give a glimmer of hope for India women to get back into the game. Although England lost Lauren Winfield a few overs later, the hosts cruised along at a steady pace and were 153 for three when rain halted the match once again.

The weather continued to look bleak and with the rain refusing to stop, there was no scope for further play handing the England Women a 42-run victory by the D/L method. Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway were unbeaten on 20 and 1 respectively.

Earlier, after putting India to bat, Anya Shrubsole picked up the wickets of Thirush Kamini and Karu Jain early to leave the visitors on 13/2 in the sixth over. Skipper Mithali Raj then joined opener Smriti Mandhana in an effort to stabilise the Indian innings. The pair added 64 runs for the third wicket until Mithali Raj was sent back by Jenny Gunn for 34 with the scoreboard reading 77/3. With the innings reduced to 47 overs, Mandhana continued to anchor the innings from one end. 31 runs later, Heather Knight sent back Harmanpreet Kaur for eight.

Vellasawamy Vanitha joined the opener in garnering runs but Mandhana was run out for 74 ending the blossoming partnership between the duo. The pair added 46 for the fifth wicket. Jhulan Goswami followed her back while Vanitha was removed by Knight in the next over. Knight also castled N Niranjana a bit later to leave India on 174/8 and finish with three wickets. However a 14-ball 21-run cameo by debutant Shikha Pandey along with a 19-run unbroken stand with Ekta Bisht helped India to a total of 193 in 47 overs.